Sharaa hosts Iraq’s al-Zaidi and praises a doctrine he has yet to complete at home

Ahmad al-Sharaa received Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi at Damascus International Airport on Wednesday 28 October, according to a statement from the Syrian Presidency reported by Asharq Al-Awsat from Baghdad under the byline of Fadhel al-Nashmi at 14:56 UTC, and separately by The Syrian Observer on 29 October citing Syria TV and the same presidential statement. The two discussed bilateral relations and cooperation on security, economic affairs and trade, and reviewed regional developments. Sharaa said economic ties form the historical backbone of Syrian-Iraqi relations and called for their development so that cooperation can survive political fluctuation, and said the destinies of the two countries are interconnected historically, in the present and in the future. The visit followed his first interview before an Iraqi audience since assuming the presidency in January 2025, broadcast Tuesday evening on Dijlah TV, in which he named water resources, agriculture, border crossings and energy as the shared interests.

The line worth isolating is the one about arms. Sharaa expressed support for al-Zaidi’s efforts to combat corruption and to ensure weapons remain exclusively under state control, describing the Iraqi premier as “serious” about those objectives, and added: “Building a unified and strong army is a source of strength and protection for everyone.” Said of Iraq’s militias, it reads as a statement of Syrian doctrine — and the Syrian file where that doctrine is being tested runs from the north-east, where the SDF integration timetable is live, to Sweida, where The National reported on 22 October that Damascus had deployed around 3,000 troops to the province’s western front, a figure attributed to a single unnamed source, facing Druze militias amalgamated into a Sweida National Guard aligned with Hikmat al-Hijri and supported by Israel.

Assessment: Both accounts of the visit rest on the Presidency’s own statement. There is no independent record of what was agreed, no signed instrument, no money and no timetable — which is the normal shape of a Damascus readout and should be read as such rather than as substance. The Iraqi side has historically been more specific; that readout is the one to wait for. The deeper point is the gap between the doctrine Sharaa endorses abroad and the map at home. Monopoly of arms is a principle he can safely applaud in Baghdad precisely because in Sweida, and in the north-east, it remains unachieved.